Andree Marie Lorraine

Andrée Lorrain, born September 27, 1953, in Glens Falls, New York, passed away quietly at her home in Thousand Oaks, California, on March 21, 2026. She was 72. Andrée grew up in the Glens Falls area and later graduated from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, with a master’s degree in English Literature. There she met the love of her life, Eric Melbardis. The two settled in Southern California where they married and built a life rich with culture, travel, and music, approaching life with curiosity and generosity. Those who knew Andrée remember her as someone who moved through life with a rare sense of certainty and imagination. From an early age, she seemed to possess an inner compass that pointed her toward adventure and possibility. By the time she was twenty she had already traveled in five countries – no one in the family could keep up with her appetite to explore. She loved history, especially the Middle Ages and spent a year in France studying Old French at the University of Poitiers. That spirit defined her life. She approached the world as though it were a story unfolding —one she intended to read deeply and contribute to herself. She delighted in beauty and imagination: wearing elegant dresses as though they were made for grand expeditions, playing the harpsichord in the quiet of late afternoons, wrapping herself in Scottish wool shawls while reading French literature by candlelight, or devouring Harry Potter beside the fire. Every new person was, to her, a book waiting to be opened; every experience, another chapter in a life lived with curiosity and style. She was predeceased by her husband Eric on January 30, 2026, and is survived by her mother, Stella Lorrain of South Glens Falls, NY; her siblings Pierre Lorrain (Teri Olson) of Sedgwick, ME; Danielle Mazza (Joseph) of Queensbury, NY; France Lorrain; and Renee Lorrain of Saint Paul, MN; nephews Pierrot Lorrain (Lisa) of Groton, MA, and Adam Mazza of Saint Paul, MN; nieces Simone Lorrain (Justin) of Salem, MA, and Claudia Mazza (Sean Boardman) of Maplewood, MN; grandnephews Grayson Roberson of Maplewood, MN, and Emmett Lorrain of Salem, MA; and grandniece Penelope Lorrain of Groton, MA. Her life was a story filled with adventure, beauty, courage, and kindness — chapters written in her own unmistakable voice. Those who knew her will carry her memory forward, remembering a woman who moved through the world with grace, imagination, and a spirit that never stopped reaching for the horizon. A memorial service will be held on May 16, 2026 at the Welch-Ryce-Haider Funeral Chapel in Santa Barbara, CA.

Andree Marie Lorraine

September 27, 1953 - March 21, 2026